this is the cbs evening news with russ mitchell. l: aitchell: and good evening. aay, the calendar may say that it s still only october, but up middle the east coast today, y ac a look outside your window, ningit might convince you that it is the middle of winter. trav an early snowstorm is blasting out in across the region this itning, downing power lines, and snarling air and ground travel for thousands. noine quijano has been out in the thick of it. reporter: fall fell away quickly today in the northeast. in its place: an unwelcome, storming dose of winter. t> this is crazy. this is absolutely crazy. and it s so wet. it s just and it s not stopping. reporter: 12 states at one point were under a winter storm warning, stretching from west torm nia all the way to maine. this is a once-in-a-50-year rope storm event. s s not an incredibly strong storm, but it s producing snows you would typically see heading wn towards december and early january. reporter: the heavy s